Chameleon - A City of London Thriller (46 page)

The two men
watched the girls enter the main building and then jumped out of
the van and walked towards their rehearsed positions.

***

Katie pushed
open the door to the lecture hall and allowed her friends to
precede her, before nodding to Deanna who mouthed silently, “See
you here after class.”

***

The cold
weather and the full class schedule served to keep the grounds
clear of students, and so Deanna’s journey back to the dorm room
was quiet and uneventful until she rounded the corner of the old
brick building. She then had twenty or so yards to cover before she
could enjoy the warmth of the foyer and her morning coffee and chat
with Jake on security.

An untidy,
balding man with a purposeful stride huddled in a heavy overcoat,
walked towards her. Deanna was immediately wary as she could not
imagine why a man of his years would be leaving the girls’ dorm
rooms so early in the morning.

“
Excuse me,
Miss, I think you may have dropped this?”

Deanna turned
to look behind her, where a younger man was jogging up the path
towards her, holding out a small bunch of keys. In a second she
weighed up the situation. A young man in dark glasses on a murky
morning was distracting her, whilst another man, out of place on
campus, approached from behind.

Deanna
withdrew her pepper spray, keeping it concealed in her hand, and
turned to face the older man, who had made up a lot of ground in
the few seconds she had been facing the other way. She lifted her
hand and squirted him in the face with the spray. His hands flew to
his face as he tried to protect his eyes. Deanna then turned to the
boy, who now looked scared and who was beginning to back off. For a
moment his panic and fear convinced her that she had overreacted,
but by the time she considered the possibility a smooth fist sized
rock crashed into her skull from behind. Deanna would be
unconscious for an hour or two, and insensible for the rest of the
day.

***

As she fell to
the floor, Rob Donkin laid her on her side as they had planned.
Barry was to head off to the main building, whilst Rob was to
report to security that a lady had slipped and banged her head and
needed an ambulance.

Whilst Barry
was still blinded by the spray, Donkin spotted a holster under
Deanna’s jacket. Unseen by Mitchinson, he lifted the loaded pistol
from the holster and tucked it behind him into the waistband of his
jeans. No-one would argue with him now, he thought.

It took a
minute or two, but Barry Mitchinson eventually got back to the car,
where he sprayed his eyes with bottled water. By the time he had
recovered, he could hear the sound of sirens. An ambulance was
approaching. Donkin had done his job well. The younger man arrived
back at the van and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“
OK, old
timer, time for your performance,” he said, with a lack of respect
that Barry intended to punish in due course.

***

Katie Norman
was listening attentively to her lecturer when she heard a
disturbance behind her. The doors had opened and an apologetic
middle aged man appeared at the top of the stairs. The lecturer
stopped speaking and looked directly at the interloper.

“
I need to
speak to Miss Katie Norman about Miss Deanna Pope. I’m afraid there
has been an accident.”

Katie stood
immediately and gathered up her books, looking clearly worried but
hoping that the accident hadn’t been a serious one. The lecturer
urged her to attend to the problem and return when she was
able.

Katie and
Barry stood outside the closed lecture room door.

“
I assume you
heard the ambulance sirens? “

Katie
nodded.

“
Well, Jake
at security found Deanna Pope of Vastrick Security on the ground
outside the dormitory. She had fallen and hit her head. She was
unconscious as the ambulance left.”

Katie looked
concerned and panicky.

“
As you
probably know, I head up college security,” Barry told her. Katie
didn’t know - how could she - but she nodded anyway. “Vastrick
asked me if I could either stay with you or take you to the
hospital to be with Deanna until they could get a replacement sent
out. Do you wish to stay here and attend your lecture with me at
the door, or do you want to follow the ambulance?”

“
I want to go
with Deanna; she’s my friend as well as everything else.” Katie had
not thought to wonder why the college would have a security manager
with an English accent. She was too worried about her friend to
have even noticed.

“
I have the
college minibus outside, if that would be OK?” Barry asked. But he
need not have worried. Katie was already on her way out of the
building.

***

Katie jumped
up into her seat behind the driver and Barry closed the door. He
climbed in the other side of the van and slid over beside
Katie.

“
Donald, to
the hospital, please.”

Maybe it was
auto suggestion at the mention of the word hospital, but she
thought she could smell that familiar hospital aroma in the van. In
a swift move the man beside her grabbed the back of her head and
clamped a damp cloth over her face. She tried not to breathe in.
She knew now what was happening but she was unable to resist, and
the chloroform did its work.

The van left
the campus and headed to Virginia on the Interstate, in the
opposite direction from the hospital.

Chapter
70

Dale City, I95
South of Washington DC, USA, Monday noon.

Katie Norman
was concealed under a blanket in the rear of the minivan; she had
been injected with some kind of sedative by Barry Mitchinson, who
was now in a service station grabbing some drinks and sandwiches.
Rob Donkin took the opportunity to sneak into the back of the van
and look at his girlfriend. She was beautiful; young, pretty and
yet sensual. He stroked her cheek gently; it was as smooth as
porcelain but warm and soft.

She pressed
all of his buttons whether she knew it or not, whether she intended
it or not. Rob daydreamed of the times they would be spending
together very soon. She would be reluctant at first, but he would
win her over, and if he couldn’t he would blackmail her into
staying, but he didn’t want that. Successful relationships can’t be
built on fear. No, he would win her over with love. But he would
take pictures of her which would cause controversy and wreck her
career, just in case. A back up plan, that’s all it would be. He
loved her too much to hurt her like that, and he could take the
pictures whilst she was drugged, so she wouldn’t even know. That
was how he would do it, he decided.

Donkin was
sitting back in the front seat when Barry returned to the van with
a white carry bag filled with drinks, pastries and chocolate bars.
He passed the bag to Rob and took the slip road back onto I95. As
they drove and ate he made Donkin practice the script until he was
word perfect.

***

Dee had swum,
exercised, read a novel and eaten, and she was bored. There were
still two days to go until Josh arrived, and so she decided to call
into the local Vastrick office, just for something to do. Before
she could do so, however, her phone rang. The screen registered a
US cell phone with a number she did not recognise. She clicked the
green button on her BlackBerry and said hello. There was a brief
silence, as if she had lost signal, and it was followed by a
click.

“
Hello,” she
said again, a little louder this time.

“
Hello, Dee.
Long time no see. Or, if you had your way, I would never see
again.”

Dee was sure
she recognised the voice.

“
Donkin?”

“
The very
same. Now, listen carefully and say nothing that might make me
angry.” Donkin’s confident statement puzzled her, but she decided
to listen anyway.

“
I have Katie
Norman.” He paused as he heard a sharp intake of breath from his
hated opponent. “I am on my way to you, and if you do everything we
say, Katie will be returned to you safely. Now, listen carefully.
These items are not negotiable:

One, you will
contact no-one. We will know and Katie Norman will be
punished.

Two, you will
meet us at a point of our choosing in the Richmond area in the next
two hours. We’ll text you the coordinates.

Three, you
will tell us where Gillian Davis is, and where we can find her, or
Norman will be punished.

If we find
Davis where you say she will be, my companion will release you and
Norman and we will disappear from your lives - unless you report
any of this, in which case you will both be punished.
Understood?”

“
I
understand,” Dee replied, giving nothing away. “Please, can I talk
to Katie? Is she all right?”

“
She’s fine
at the moment, and no, you can’t talk to her. Just do what I say,
OK? I’ll call you again when we’re at the meeting point. It will be
a few minutes from your hotel. Yes, we know where you’re staying.
Don’t contact the authorities or warn Davis.” Donkin paused. “Oh,
by the way, you might want to send some flowers to Deanna Pope.”
The line went dead. There was another silence and then a click
before the dial tone reappeared.

***

Barry praised
the young loser for being able to remember the thrust of the
script, even if he had adlibbed quite a bit.

“
Barry, how
will this all go down?”

“
I’ve already
explained. I get the whereabouts of Davis from the Hammond woman, I
leave them with you, and when I see Davis with my own eyes I call
you.

“
And I can do
whatever I want with the women?” Donkin smiled nastily, feeling the
pressure of the Sig Sauer handgun in his waistband.

“
Yes. Once I
have Davis I don’t give a damn about the others, they are simply a
means to an end. The Hammond woman is a tough customer. She won’t
talk without encouragement, and our cherubic passenger will provide
the incentive.”

“
You won’t
really hurt Katie, will you?” Donkin asked.

“
Won’t have
to, Rob. Hammond will fold like a cheap suit when she sees I’m
serious.”

***

Dee had many
options; despite the suspicious clicking on her phone she did not
believe Donkin could monitor her calls. She could have called Steve
Post from a landline, anyway. She could have called Vastrick for
help, or at least the loan of a weapon, but time was short and she
needed to think.

***

An hour away
from Richmond at her lodge in Lynchburg, Gillian Davis unplugged
her iPhone Vox from her iPad. The grid on the screen showed that
Dee Hammond was still at her hotel in Richmond. Thank goodness for
GPS.

When Gillian
Davis had cloned Dee’s phone she’d felt mildly guilty. The woman
was asleep and, in a strange way, she had trusted Gillian Davis,
perhaps unwisely. With the clone of Dee’s phone residing on the
second of the twin sim cards in her iPhone Vox, Gillian could read
any text, listen in on any call and make a call as if it originated
from Dee’s phone. She had also ensured that the GPS was activated.
Her intention was to ensure that Dee Hammond didn’t get any wild
ideas about taking Gillian out, or having her rendered back to the
UK, and so this call was a surprise.

Gillian Davis
too had options, and needed to consider them carefully. She could
not blame Dee for disclosing Gil’s whereabouts, even though it
meant that she would have to move on again, just as she was getting
settled. Gil made a decision and started packing a bag.

***

Dee’s phone
rang again at six minutes past two in the afternoon. She was ready;
her plans were made. She would go it alone, sort of.

“
Hello”. Dee
responded to the call, again offering no clues as to her attitude
or state of mind. The voice on the other end was different this
time. It was English, the accent suggesting education at a minor
public school somewhere, but the voice was determined and bordering
on the harsh.

“
You keep
this phone on until we meet, do you understand?” Barry
demanded.

“
Yes.”

“
Go to your
car and head towards the I95 on the Downtown Expressway. Do not
talk to anyone. Understand?”

“
Yes.”

Dee’s phone
beeped, and co-ordinates appeared on her BlackBerry.

“
Type these
coordinates into your sat nav and you will be here in ten minutes.
Now, keep your phone on so I can hear what you’re doing.” Barry
fell silent and Dee walked through reception to the valet parking
area.

“
Miss
Hammond. Silver Chrysler 300. I’ll just get it for you,” the
attendant said cheerily.

“
Who was
that?” Barry demanded.

“
Valet
Parking, they’re bringing my car,” Dee replied as she wrote quickly
on a post it note which she stuck to a twenty dollar bill. The
valet delivered her car and she handed the valet the cash. He saw
the twenty and gushed, “Thank you Miss Hammond!”